Even If I'm Not Afraid
by Sketched Hero
Summary: When Dylan watches her, she smiles back. When Dylan touches her, she giggles in response. When Dylan kisses her, she kisses back. But he can tell she's always thinking about someone else. Dylan-centric, one-sided Dylan/Max, implied Fax.


**Summary: **_When Dylan watches her, she smiles back. When Dylan touches her, she giggles in response. When Dylan kisses her, she kisses back. But he can tell she's always thinking about someone else. Dylan-centric, one-sided Dylan/Max, implied Fax._

**Even If I'm Not Afraid**

**One-shot**

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

Though he knew he was programmed and created as her perfect "other half", Dylan now knew that he was truly, undoubtedly head-over-heels in love with Maximum Ride, the headstrong leader of her Flock – her family… the only _real_ family that she had ever known. Perhaps he was looking at this situation incorrectly, but under the current circumstances, wasn't he also a member of the Flock?

Max treated him kindly, and they both fell in love, to the point where he believed that _he-who-shall-not-be-named _would disappear from her thoughts forever.

And it was true.

For a while.

When he had appeared, when he had rivaled _him _for dominance, when he took _him _out of the picture, Dylan was happy. The happiest he had ever been. Nothing would be able to change the happiness and joy he felt because of a new family, a new girlfriend, a new… a new start.

A new life.

He did his job, and he tore the Flock apart, completing his mission with one fault: the moment he fell in love with Max was the moment his death sentence came upon him. Max was perfect. How could he not fall in love with her? Dylan let out a long sigh and wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, rocking her back and forth as she drifted off into a deep slumber. He kissed her softly on the temple, and Max let out a soft sigh, mumbling a one-syllable word.

He wanted to pretend that she didn't say, _"Fang"_ at that moment.

Lately, Max was keeping watch every night, exhausting herself to the point of death. Whenever he had fitful nights with dreams of The School haunting him, he would wake up suddenly, only to see a curled up Max staring blankly at the fire in front of her. It was the same cycle each day – Dylan would wake up in the middle of the night to stand up and quietly lull her to sleep. When she knocked off, Dylan would keep watch until dawn came, or until Max wanted to wake up and do something.

Dylan hated and loved the life he lived. There were so many ups and downs about his two lives that he wasn't sure which one he preferred – living as a test subject in the school or living as a test subject for Max's heart.

He shook his head and stroked Max's beautiful blonde hair gently, pulling her closer as he watched the fire burn away into the moonlight. With a smile, he kissed her neck and rubbed her shoulders, knowing that she loved being massaged. Her wings protruded slightly from her denim jacket, and Dylan had the feral urge to simply take off her clothes and…

Tensing, he drove the thoughts away.

_Wrong. That's wrong. _

He swallowed down the lump in his throat and glanced at the unmoving sleeping bags of Angel, Gaz, Ig and Nudge, hoping nobody was watching as he leaned down to capture those luscious lips in a soft kiss. Max murmured something again, pulling away from him and nearly falling sideways onto the ground if it weren't for him locking his arms around her.

Max's eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him, still half-asleep. Though slightly closed, her hazel eyes were still as amazing and brilliant as the starry sky, and her blonde hair nearly illuminated with the moon shining down on her, as if she was an angel from heaven – and Dylan told himself she _was_ one.

Dylan greeted her with a soft _Hello _and a kiss on the nose, and, in response, Max stifled a yawn and kissed him on the lips, laughing quietly. It was a sound he hadn't heard in what felt like weeks… or months. After a second, Max shifted backwards and looked into his eyes, hers a mixture of shock, amusement, confusion and, above all, longing.

About a million things went through Dylan's head at that moment.

He loved to look into her eyes and pretend that she wasn't thinking about Fang.

_Even if I'm not afraid of Fang or The School…_

He loved to kiss her on the forehead and pretend she wasn't imaging he was Fang.

_ I'm scared of you._

He loved to hold her tightly and pretend she wasn't imaging his arms as Fang's.

_Max… isn't that weird? _I'm _scared of _you.

He loved to whisper to her in the night and pretend she wasn't dreaming of Fang.

_ And of what you can do._

He loved to cuddle her close, nibble on her earlobe and pretend that she never again wanted to hold Fang.

_Of what you _will _do._

He loved to initiate a passionate kiss and pretend that she was kissing back because Dylan was Dylan and not Fang.

_ I don't want to leave…_

He loved to believe he was a part of the Flock and pretend that she wasn't using him to replace Fang.

_ And I don't want to break your heart._

He loved to pretend that she wasn't simply _using _him in general.

_ All I want is stop this dread…_

He loved being _in love _with her and pretend that she was in love with him too.

_ From breaking me apart._

He loved to lay her on her side, lie next to her, wrap his arm around her and fall asleep as the flames burning in the distance slowly lost their spark.

He loved to pretend that she didn't want Fang.

All he can do is pretend.

_I guess The School never calculated evolution. _

_Since, you know, there's someone more important in your life._

_ Because I'm everything you would ever want and need._

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"_You howl and listen, you listen and wait for the echoes of angels who won't return._

_He's everything you want. He's everything you need. He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be. He says all the right things at exactly the right time, but he means nothing to you and you don't know why…_

_You're waiting for someone to put you together. You're waiting for someone to push you away. There's always another wound to discover. There's always something more you wish he'd say…_

…_I am everything you want. I am everything you need. I am everything inside of you that you wish you could be. I say all the right things at exactly the right time, but I mean nothing to you and I don't know why…"_

**Everything You Want **– _Vertical Horizon_

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

**Companion to "Afraid to Sleep Without You" and "Without You in My Life".**

Again, as mentioned in my other author's notes of these series of one-shots, I'm sorry for the song-quote. I've never read Nevermore, and I don't plan to. I kind of don't want to. Oh well.

I hope you enjoyed these one-shots. I never planned to make a Dylan-centric one-shot, but it just popped into my head.

I promise you. I'm working on **For One More Day **right now!

**READ+REVIEW=UPDATES!**

That means if you review, **F1MD **will come out soon.

-Sketched Hero

**PS. **This is unbeta'd. It's a lot more choppy and loose… because, well, I didn't really know how to portray Dylan. I didn't want to antagonize him, but I didn't want it to seem like I was on his side, either. He's not a bad character – he just can't match Fang. :D

**9-18-12: **Edited some of it. I was way too tired last night.


End file.
